Saturday, November 23, 2013

Comebuy- Flatiron

Taiwanese food, people make a big deal about the teas (Bubble and Boba).

Lots of reviews, they average out as very good despite the squawks

  • 251 5th Ave
    New York, NY 10016
    b/t 28th St & 29th St in Flatiron
  • Transit information 4 6 6X N R Get Directions
  • Phone number (212) 532-6979
  • Business website comebuy2002.com.tw
  • 10/16/2013
    The Bubble Tea is delicious, the boba are always cooked right, and the sweet vermicelli noodle is a unique addition that I personally love!  It's different, but for a Bubble Tea connoisseur, it's a delicious new twist!

    Definitely try it!

    (Also, the macaroons are delicious too!)
  • 11/12/2013
    I used to come here three times a week. Recently they raised it's price. I never paid that much for bubble tea. I liked it but won't be coming back.

    Also added a minimum for credit card. They got rid of their stamp card too, which used to reward me with a free bubble tea after ten purchases. Now they offer an app, make 10 purchases to only receive BOGO 50% off. Took away all my incentives to coming back to this place.
  • 11/4/2013
    Having finished work at 8:30pm, it is nice to know I can grab a bubble tea for here while heading home.

    I got the black tea with the jelly and grabbed two donuts for dinner (half price at the end of the day!)
    BTW- their donuts look and tasted just like donuts from Dough; had the Hibiscus and Dulce de Leche. Rated 4/5.

    The tea was weak and the jelly did not have much flavor; less flavor at the end of the day?   Rated 3/5.

    The place is roomy, clean and staff is friendly.
    On my next visit I'll try another flavor.
  • 10/17/2013 Updated review
    38 check-ins here
    Me dying of thirst: Small apple fizzy please!
    Not my usual server: Credit card minimum of $5
    Me: When did that happen?
    Server: It's been like that for 2 weeks already
    Me: I have $100 bills (cause that's how I roll), or credit card
    Server: Oh I'll have to check with my manager

    Meanwhile my drink is being made.

    Server: No I'm sorry we can't accept either.

    Me walking away parched: $&?&!&&@!!! (In my head, cause I like to keep it classy)
    8/7/2012 Previous review
    Not just bubble tea. Tapioca pearls that are the perfect consistency (bouncy, a nice bite, and not… Read more
  • 11/18/2013
    They have a decent variety of gourmet doughnuts. They are priced something like $2.80 apiece and is reasonable. I have never tried their bubble tea but I love that it's all updated-Taiwan-style, and you can adjust the sugar and ice level and stuff.
  • 11/19/2013
    1 check-in here
    Listed in Drinks & Desserts
    Decent bubble tea in the middle of Flatiron. I like the menu display, it makes ordering a lot easier, especially for bubble tea beginners, because it has pictures of all the drinks. Standard price. Has a couple tables for seating. Clean bathroom downstairs. They offer lots of macarons, which I did not try, because none of them could tell me where they buy their macarons from. Uhmm... that just seems super questionable to me. I don't know, there's just nothing special about this place.
    • 2 friends
    • 115 reviews
    11/11/2013
    1 check-in here
    Stopped by twice on Sunday mornings. Passion green tea was sub-par but brown sugar milk tea is amazing! Haven't tried the food yet (they look and smell good though); will update after I have it.
  • 11/4/2013 Updated review
    2 check-ins here
    New $5 minimum for credit cards policy. Which kind of doesn't make sense since no individual thing on their menu costs more than $5. Maybe they're trying to get more people to buy their pastries...
    6/5/2013 Previous review
    When i'm at work & craving bubble tea, I always go to Come Buy.

    Personally, i've never seen half the…
    Read more
  • 9/19/2013
    5 check-ins here
    Every time I have cold bubble tea, the juice or milk always gets finished before the balls. This can't be a common problem. In many popular tea shops, I see a lot of people getting bubble tea, so I don't know why people keep coming back. I'm not sure if there's a certain way to have this treat, angling the cup, swirling the straw and sucking, or maybe pushing down the straw so no juice gets in there. Almost every time, there's always balls left at the bottom of the cup.

    With that said, I still go back time and time to get this product. It is refreshing. I've had so many of the varieties at Come Buy. QQ milk tea is milky tea and bubbles with light creaminess. I have tried Peach oolong tea that's straight up peach tea, refreshingly cool. Triple Q passion blast has lychee jelly, coconut jelly, and bubbles and sounds like a lot is going but there's just enough of each kind. Grape Yakult Drink is a creamy grape drink and it's too sweet at full sugar so get 50% sweetness. Don't forget to get the loyalty rewards card that gets you a free drink after 10 purchases, but coffee doesn't count as a purchase.

    They also serve pastries like donuts and also an assortment of macarons. Seating doesn't feel cramped, there's around five tables that seat two people plus stools by the window facing 28th street. Also there are some outlets such as right by the table in the back if you will be having a long stay here. The restroom is downstairs in the event you need to relieve yourself every now and again.

    This is a great spot that's close to Madison Square Park should you need to get something cool like a cold juice or some milky tea with tapioca balls.
  • 9/22/2013
    1 check-in here
    I've seen this place, wanted to try this place, saw reviews about this place, now it was time to try this place out!

    After a long walk around the city, I decided I was ready for something sweet and satisfying to cool me down. Behold! Come buy! This place gave a good first impression. The inside was small, but there was still a place to sit and rest. When going to order, the lady behind the counter had a smile her face and accommodated me with the questions I had. The other people behind the counter seemed to be working hard at work, and making sure everyone gets there order in a timely fashion. Always a plus in my book!

    As I was super excited to try their lychee bubble tea, I was also pleased with the reasonable prices for Manhattan. The first sip blew me away! As a huge lychee fan, this was the perfect drink- adding the bubbles made it 1000% better!

    They offered many flavors that I'm excite to try and also had macaroons, which also looked tasty! Next time I'm in the area, I had my eye on that mango drink, I will definitely want to try that one out!
  • 11/7/2013
    Went & got the passionfruit tea w. Tapioca.. it was better than expected. Pretty good for mid manhattan area... will definitely go back to try their yummy looking macarons & donuts. A good clean hangout place also!
  • 9/26/2013
    4 check-ins here
    Working in midtown and being close to K-town you would think there would be more boba options nearby, but there isn't :[ To cure my boba fix, I make the trek to Come Buy!

    Their service is great, tons of options for drinks to quench anyone's thirst. Lots of options for add ons. I also like the option of controlling my sugar level and ice level.
    Prices are fair for NYC.

    Added bonus they also serve donuts from Dough, and have a good selection of Macarons. I haven't tried the macarons yet, but I'm sure they are tasty. Never had a macaron in my life.
  • 10/9/2013
    Decent boba milk tea. Their classic, #1 QQ milk tea has this weird noodle shaped tapioca in it... So if you're already weirded out by a chewy drink, be careful not to choke on the slithering noodles.

    Otherwise, tastes fine. Not a fan of the noodle stuff but haven't tried their other drinks. Will update review if I do.

    *deducted a star due to $5 credit card minimum, which means if you order only one drink you're out of luck.
  • 10/7/2013
    I've been on a boba hunt since I got here 3 weeks ago. Boba is so readily available in Southern California and I miss it so much!

    So this place is pretty decent. The QQ boba is their most popular drink and offers boba and vermicelli in a milk tea. This is a very chewy drink. The vermicelli looks like worms but they taste fantastic. I love this kind of chewiness in my drink. I also tried the brown sugar milk tea with pudding. It was actually less sweet than the QQ drink. But I really like the pudding. Next time I'm just going to get pudding in my QQ drink :)
  • 9/1/2013
    1 check-in here
    I was strolling down 5th Ave and was starting to feel a little thirsty. I happened to pass by Come Buy.

    I remember having boba at this franchise when I was in Hong Kong. I was surprised to find it in NYC so I decided to stop by for a drink.

    They serve a variety of drinks where you can customize the sweetness level and amount of ice. I ordered boba milk green tea with 50% sweet and with less ice. I thought they sweeten their boba so I asked for 50% sweet. My drink ended tasting super bland. There was also a lack of tea flavor. I felt like I was drinking iced water with bland boba.

    I was also craving a some sweets so Iordered 6 macarons for $14. What a great deal! The macarons were refrigerated so it was nicely chilled for a hot summer day. I ordered the rose, pistachio, and Nutella flavor. These macarons were ok. It is nothing compared to Ladurée! But it did satisfy my sweet tooth craving.

    With many boba choices in NYC, I would probably try another place than to come back here!
  • 8/25/2013
    2 check-ins here
    I had the peach oolong tea (refreshing), and coconut and hibiscus donuts (delicious). The menu items are reasonably priced.  The servers greet you immediately on entering--who doesn't like to be acknowledge as a customer.

    There seems to be a lot of seating in this moderately sized space.  However, I can imagine the seating filling up pretty quickly during the lunch rush. I grabbed a stamp card since I'm in the area often.  Looking forward to trying other their bubble teas.
  • 10/27/2013
    If you're in the mood for bubble tea look no further. This is an authentic Taiwanese place. I usually get the Peach Oolong with jelly. I tried the lychee and coconut jelly both really good. All drinks are made to order so you can select temperature, sugar, with or without ice.
  • 9/17/2013
    I had high expectation of this place after reading the reviews.  I just had a not too good experience with pho for dinner (separate review), so on my way back to my hotel, I decided to get my other craving out of my system.

    Searching under boba, I found this place not too far from where I was, and where I was going back to my hotel for the night.  It was Sunday night, about 8pm.

    I've been drinking boba since they were the thing in CA more than 15yr ago.  Slowly, the trend went East and we had them in CO, TX and everywhere else later.  I've tried more than my share over the years.  The key ingredient of the drink is the boba itself.  It can't be too chewy, or hard or under cook, or sticky.  It really has to have that bounciness in texture, and flow independently in the drink when you try to suck it up with that big monster straw.  For that, they were good and I would say the boba itself is probably a good 4 or 5 stars.

    So why the 3 stars here.  I know the typical and traditional is always the tea mixed in with milk or dairy, but since it was late, I really didn't want any more caffein as I needed the sleep that night..  I opt for the passion fruit as it was something different, and it was what reminded me of Taiwan as I first ever heard of passion fruit was when I visited Taiwant many years ago.

    Anyway, when I got my drink, the immediate presentation was not good as it was leaking from the top.  The guy put another lid on it, which I had no idea why as it didn't fit well and I had to get several paper napkins to clean it up.  I took the lid off and noticed the sealed top has a small hole already in the middle.  Not sure if that's the way they make them here, but I've never seen that in the past.

    As I had about 25 min walk back to my hotel, I thought I would just enjoy it while walking on 5th ave in NY.  Have the say the flavor was very odd, not what I expected at all.  As I mentioned prior, the boba was good, but the flavor of the drink had a tinkle buzz to it, almost as if I'm drinking a watered down fruity flavored alcohol drink of some sort.  It was not strong, but just weird.  For the large size of over $4, I expected more.  If it wasn't for the boba, I would have rated them lower stars.  Perhaps I should have stick to the original tea flavor, if there is ever a next time.  I picked this place as it was highly rated, and it was the so called "Taiwan" style, which originated the boba drinks more than 20 years ago.
  • 7/10/2013
    Come Buy has a bunch of specials and I still have yet to try them. But their QQ Milk Tea sounds pretty interesting because it has vermicelli in it. Come buy is a nice place with a lot of lighting and enough seating. They also serve donuts and Macarons.

    Damn. I'm so glad I live 3 blocks away from this place. TAKE MY MONEY. Give me sweet and delicious drinks.
  • 8/25/2013
    I consider myself a bit of a bubble tea connoisseur as I use to get at least two a day in college at one point (amazing I didn't turn diabetic) though I tend to not like sweet drinks anymore for some reason . . . But the bubble tea here is superior to the other options in this area and that includes all of K-town.  I think the Taiwanese just do bubble tea better and the focus here is completely on bubble tea as opposed to also pastries, coffee, and/or desserts.

    When they opened, I was kindof like whatever, until I discovered that they had so many different kinds (not only the standard tea varieties at these kind of places, but I also love the apple and grape fizzies and the rose), fresh firm but chewy tapioca balls (can be hit or miss at these kind of places), and an endless option of other things that can be added to your drink: coconut jelly, basil seed jelly, grass jelly, aloe jelly, lychee jelly and I think even some more I'm not recalling.  I would recommend getting 50% sugar (an option they have) so the drinks are not overwhelmingly sweet.  My favorite is the peach oolong tea with half sugar and tapioca balls.

    I only come here for the bubble tea drinks and never have tried their suspicious looking pastries or macaroons they have off to the side.  They also have a stamp card (you order ten, then you get one free), but the concept of that I don't understand as they also have a tip jar . . . just nix the stamp cards and don't have a tip jar.  Maybe they are trying to cater to different audiences or something with each.

    Anyways, walking down the streets of Manhattan always leads to people asking me where I got my bubble tea and I direct them here.  They have a very simple and unassuming store front, but bubble tea is what they specialize in and they seem to take it quite seriously.  They have their whole process streamlined with such great efficiency that I have never had to wait long for my drink.
  • 7/4/2013
    Never had noodle jelly in my drinks before... It felt slimy and weird at first but then I loved it!

    I ordered the Milk tea, 70% sugar. Next time I might try 50%.
  • 10/4/2013
    1 check-in here
    The staff was very good about explaining the various drink flavors and options. The drink was delicious
    • 56 friends
    • 37 reviews
    8/3/2013
    At first I was super excited of the prospect of another bubble tea shop except Coco's that was in the midtown area. I was excited as this is a Taiwanese place and thus obviously authentic.

    Overall, I like the ambience and store space. It's spacious, has lots of desserts, and a very decent selection. I've tried the mango juice (50% sugar) which was very sweet still and very refreshing on a summer day. I've also tried the lychee juice with lychee jelly which was not so good. I had recommended the place to my friends and he didn't really like the milk tea as much.

    I have yet to try a lot of the drinks on the menu, so I can't comment definitively, but I'd say this place is not too great, but satisfactory. Prices are standard for a bubble tea place. I'd pick this place over most others if I'm with friends just because there's a lot of seating and the selection looks good. I haven't given up on Come Buy yet, and will for sure come back to try the milk teas!

    It is a little creepy that the top of the drink is plastered with all these faces of little kids. Sometimes when you stab your straw in, you'll stab the face of a kid. Uhhh Come Buy, please change this. Kinda disturbing.
  • 4/22/2013
    Comebuy is the best of the Taiwanese bubble tea options in Midtown -- which isn't saying that much as (placeholder for when Yelp supports Unicode) is really a Taiwanese thing and for stuff competition one needs to even go beyond Chinatown to Flushing... but still.

    I'll openly admit that it has never been my favorite. I only frequented it in Hong Kong when the nearest CoCo was a bit of a trek. On the home turf of Taiwan, (Unicode placeholder) is by far my favorite but for what I'm hoping are In-N-Out like reasons they have chosen not to leave the island... so Comebuy it is. In the States it stacks up reasonably well next to the set of super sweet options with 20+ powder flavors. The price is higher -- it is New York -- but they do offer the same ice/sugar variance and the punch cards do soften the blow a bit.

    Two quirks that are somewhat unfortunate here:
    - No real milk option [ordering a tea latte plus bubbles] like at CoCo et. al.
    - No Hokkaido Milk tea. [If anyone knows a place for this in NYC, please tell me.]

    When in the area I'll still come here and it's a great casual first date option that's a bit more interesting than a stock cafe with park space a quick walk in the months of amenable weather so it earns its A-OK moniker. With appropriately set expectations, Comebuy doesn't need more rhetorical tricks or puns to convince patrons to come buy.
  • 7/23/2013
    Yummy! I decided to check this place out since its really close to my work and I was craving for some bubble milk tea. I tried the QQ milk tea and I instantly fell in love with it. The vermicelli jelly is so unique.

    I had my first QQ milk tea an hour ago and my second 20 minutes after that. YES, I went back for seconds haha! I also brought my sis with me (she works around the area too).
  • 5/26/2013
    1 check-in here
    Come Buy is one of the few bubble tea options that exist in the Flatiron neighborhood and they seem to cater to those with a sweet tooth (just about everybody), offering up pastries, donuts and macarons.

    I don't recall the drink I had from Come Buy, but I do remember it was rose-flavored and had basil seeds floating around in it.  Very refreshing and not overly sweet - job well done to them for following my requests to only for half-sugar.  Overdoing it on the sugar is one of my biggest pet peeves because it really takes away from the drink's quality, but they've convinced me that they're able to follow directions well :).
  • 8/25/2013
    1 check-in here
    I never knew this existed until I was craving something fruity one random evening. Amazing mango smoothie, with perfect pearls of tapioca. It was fairly priced, and service is really excellent. The space is also brightly lit and the store is open until 10PM from Thursdays - Sundays, so it's a great dessert spot when you want something quick, light and refreshing.
  • 4/18/2013
    3 check-ins here
    Listed in Places to study
    Yay bubble tea!  They definitely have a different take on boba - I've gotten boba a LOT in the city, and my main criteria for good boba is the quality of the pearls, and the tea. Which I guess is really the two main components of bubble tea hah, but still - many places manage to screw these things up.

    Come buy doesn't really seem to have the standard menu, and the fact that they sell macarons and donuts is interesting...I got the Earl Gray macaron and it was pretty tasty.  Not as good as Bouchon or Ladure, but it is a good fix if you want a macaron.

    I've tried the QQ milk tea, which is basically your traditional bubble milk tea with pearls and this thing they call vermicelli.  I like it because it adds a lot of texture but doesn't charge for the extra things!  If you are in the mood for less creamy, I also like the Triple Q passion blast - I think it comes with pearls, lychee jelly, and coconut jelly.  These are all things that I want to add in normally, so the fact that it's already made with it is great!  I like being able to taste the tea still (the passion fruit syrup isn't too overpowering), and overall the pearl texture is great...and slightly sweet!

    You can tell I like something when I fill out the frequent buyer card in less than 2 weeks, and I live all the way up in Washington Heights!

    Also - added plus - they take credit cards!
  • 6/30/2013
    Mr and Ms Cat had a field day at this place- they ordered a QQ milk tea, a triple Q passion fruit tea, and a brown sugar milk tea with boba and vermicelli.

    Ms Cat was at first dubious of the vermicelli, but soon realized how enjoyably chewy the noodle-like things were.  Mr Cat thinks that Come Buy deserves 5 stars as he was very impressed with how it tasted exactly the same as in Taiwan.

    Moreover, they carry Dough donuts at this location!  Mr and Ms Cat had 3 donuts- lemon poppy, hibiscus, and dulce de leche.  They also got a macaroon but sadly, it melted on the High Line.  The donuts were delicious and had unique flavors without being overly sweet.

    If you've never had true milk bubble tea before (like Ms Cat from the Midwest), this is definitely an excellent place to try first.
  • 6/12/2013
    This place is perfect. I got a large Peach Oolong with bubbles for about 3.50. It was absolutely delicious. Usually, bubble teas are 3.75, but since I got a regular tea (only comes in large) for 2.75, and added bubbles for .50, I got a large for 3.50. Usually large teas are 4.25.

    The only downside is that I had to pee with a vengeance 2 hours later. But that was my fault. I knew what I was getting myself into.

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